Elastic garment band



Nov. 29, 1938. l. w. JQYCE ELASTIC GARMENT BAND Filed June 5, 1935gmc/1Mo@ Patented Nov. 29, 1938 UNITED AASTATES ELASTIC GARMENT BANDLyndon W. Joyce, Greensboro, N. C., assigner to The FaultlessManufacturing Company, Baltimore, M d., a corporation of MarylandApplication June 5, 1935, seriai No. 25,143

1 Claim.

This invention relates to the employment of sheet rubber in the body orlimb encircling bands of garments.y i

' One of the objects of the invention is to take advantage of thesuperior stretching qualities of rubber, startingV from a condition ofrepose, over rubber which is normally under tension, `and therefore theinvention proposes the use of relatively Wide sheet rubber, ribbons orstrips instead of the usual elastic webbing in which the rubberfllamentsare interwoven or otherwise incorporated in the webbing in anormally tensioned condition.

Another object of the invention is to provide a garment band including ahem, and independent strips of sheet rubber arranged adjacent the upperand lower seams of said band whereby the band may be made as wide asdesired irrespective of the width of the strips of rubber.-

Still another object of the invention is to provide a garment bandincluding a tubular hem enclosing strips of sheet rubber arrangedadjacent the upper and lower seams of the hem, the latter being widerthan the aggregateA width of the 25 rubber strips so that anintermediate ventilated zone is defined in said band between saidstrips.

Another object of the invention is the use of -a plurality of spacedstrips of sheet rubber in a garment band, as an alternative to theemployment of a single strip of rubber the width of said band, so thatthe thickness of each band may be increased without the tensionexceeding the tension of the single rubber strip,.thus increasing thelife of the rubber, which is proportional to its thickness.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tubularband enclosingone or more wide strips of sheet rubber, anchored at intervals only byrows of stitching extending transversely of the band. l

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following descriptionof several exemplary and practical embodiments thereof proceeds.

In the drawing which accompanies and forms a partof the followingspecification and throughout the several iigures of which the samecharacters of reference have been employed to designate identical parts:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of an article of apparel illustrating theprinciple of the invention, the waist band being continuous;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a similar article of apparel, thewaist band opening in front;

Figures 3 and 4 are respectively views in front elevation and crosssection of a portion of a (c1. :ef-1237)' waist band illustrating tion;y

Figures 5 and 6 are similar views another form of the invention. y

Referring now in detail to*v the several gures the numeral I', Figure'1, illustrates a garment Vone form: of my inveniuustrating knownvariously as jockeypants, jockey shorts,

etc., having both the body; opening 2 'andthe leg openings 3 equipped`with bands exemplifying the principles of my invention. It will beunderstood that the garment shown is merely illustrative of any type ofgement to which body or limb encircling bands maybe applied.

The form of band shown both at the waist and leg openings in Figure 1 isshown in detail in Figures 3 and 4 in which it will beobserved that thematerial of the garment at the edges of the openings is turned so as toforni a tubular hem 4 having inside and outside plies 5'and 6.k Widestrips 1 and 8 of sheet rubber or the like are arrangedcircumferentially in thevupper and lower zones of said hem and securedthereto by rows of stitches 9 and Il) which pass through the strips ofsheet rubber and both plies of the fabric of the hem.

The stitches as shown in Figure 3 extend rectilinearly and consequentlythe rows of stitches are substantially non-elastic. It follows thereforethat in order to construct an elastic band, the rubber strips 1 and 8are stretched whenthe stitching is done and afterwards allowed tocontract to a state of repose, causing the band to assume the shirredform shown in Figure 1. It is understood that Figure 3 shows the rubberstrips 1' and 8 stretched and the material of the hem and the stitching9 and I0 in fully extended relation.

The rubber strips may be made of any desired type of rubber, but arepreferablycut from latex sheets, the superior elastic qualities of latexrubber being well understood. It is characteristic of the strips 1 and 8that they are essentially of considerable width adding to comfort, sincethey lie flat against the body, do not roll, twist or y bury into theflesh. Figures 3 and 4 'show a form of the invention in which the hem 4is of such width as to provide an unoccupied space Il between the rubberbands forming a ventilating zone. The use of two or more bands permitsthe hem to be made of anydesired width irrespective of the width oftherubber, it being universally conceded that up to practical limits thewider the hem the more comfortable is the band. The elasticity of theknit fabric in the zone between the rubber strips permits practicallyunrestrained relative circumferential displacement of the rubber strips,in the flexing ci' the body, the knit fabric being freely deformedobliquely in permitting this displacement. It is observable from Figurel that the band is as well adapted to the leg openings as to the waistline.

Figures 5 and 6 show a form of the invention in which each of the rubberbands I2 and I3 is wider than one-half the width of the hem so that thebands overlap in a circumferential zone indicated by the bracket i4.While this ydispenses with the Ventilating feature, it provides an extraheavy and sturdy elastic band in which all of the advantages of sheetrubber are exercised; Since there is, free sliding movement permittedbetween rubber bands, this band allows particularly great freedom inflexing the bodysince the top edge of the band can move laterallyrelative to the bottom edge without stressing the rubber. In Figures 5and 6 the. rubber bands are assumed to be in condition of repose andtherefore the band itself is in contracted condition which will give ita shirred appearance ifthe material is inherently inelastic. t

While I have in the above description disclosed a number vof practicalembodiments of y invention, it will be understood to those skilled inthe art that the detailsV of construction and arrangement are merely byway of tle'overlapping edges of the .v

example and that many other forms may be worked out in which the broadconcept of my invention can be embodied and that the details ofconstruction as shown-and described are not to be construed as limitingthe scope of the invention. as claimed.

What I claim is:

A garment band comprising textile fabric folded upon itself and with thefree edge of the for the open edge of the hem. 4

' LYNDoN W.JoYcE.

